Review Summary: Celeste take the divergent path and produce their most assured, expressive and powerful record to date
With a back catalogue as robust as theirs, it's curious that French outfit Celeste haven't experienced more popularity and offered a greater reach amongst heavy music enthusiasts. Their particular brand of sludge-inflected black metal (with more than a passing glance at doom and a heavy-handed flirtation with post-hardcore) certainly has an audience, but perhaps the cultural factor or the perceived pretentiousness of their stark, gorgeous album art creates an air of pompous mystique that deters potential listeners. Make no mistake, Celeste are a serious band. They developed their style early, and are adamant that their sound is theirs alone, having honed it for six albums (at the time of publication) already. Whilst they are certainly easy to pigeonhole in genre terms, it is difficult to argue with this assessment; their aura is certainly distinctive, and a fiery blend of multiple elements that converge both thematically and tonally. It's black metal with texture and emotional reverence, the latter providing a palatable depth to their output that has a definite richness, but is also arguably more accessible sonically than your average modern black metal band. On Infidéle(s) the outfit opts for a more produced sound, sacrificing the rawness of previous releases for a cleaner, more polished experience. This may disappoint some, but the overall result is wonderfully accomplished- a more melodic, sophisticated venture that feels like a more-developed Celeste excursion, without rendering the atmosphere any less distressing or moody.
The layered production of Infidéle(s), particularly in comparison to the rest of Celeste's output, allows for every individual component of the sound to shine through without feeling stifled or homogenised with other facets of the music. The songwriting, in the band's typical style, is heavy on melody but these melodies feel more distinctive this time; more pronounced. Around these melodies they orchestrate the bulk of their tonality- cavernous black metal peppered throughout with allusions, most notably with hardcore and sludge. The oppressive bearing throughout is a richly painted scene of discordance, in front of which the visceral, hoarse vocals of Johan Girardeau cut through the thicket of instrumentation. These vocals are ever present and sometimes work in tandem with the musicality to form a frenzied singular behemoth, but generally do their own thing in the foreground; accentuating pockets of rhythm or lending verve to more ambient sections. 'Sombres sont tes déboires' especially singles out this raw vocal effect, with Girardeau's performance being more dynamic in the vague semblance of a post-hardcore outing. This is harmoniously balanced by the frenzied structure of the track, which features a nuanced sonic texture and an overall feeling of evil, foreboding energy. The breakdown around the mid-point of the track feels dirty, sludgy, and oh-so satisfying as it stomps the soundscape with primitive purpose.
The emotional vitriol reflective of the lyrical content can be observed throughout the release in pleasingly discordant waves. The tumultuous 'Á la gloire du néant', with its thunderous breaks and intermittent vocal lines feels exceptionally emotionally charged, utilising violent, swirling melodies and crashing cymbals that precipitate a stricken instrumental atmosphere. Similarly, '(i)', an interlude leading into Infidéle(s) final third, is lighter, airier, yet still dark and deep with speckled percussion in its earlier stages that increases in temperament as the instrumentation gets thicker. It's a carefully balanced display that serves as a microcosm of sorts for the general aesthetic the album crafts during the runtime. Following song, 'Entre deux vagues', however, comes barrelling out of the gate at breakneck pace like a pack of hounds simultaneously loosed from their chains. The vocal display is ferocious and the piece has a huge sound, like walls that pin the listener in. The riffs are nasty, feral and murky; demented, like downward spirals to hell. There is a sense on Infidéle(s) of anguished catharsis; roaring, animalistic musicality that somehow gallops and lumbers at the same time. Its general discordancy is also somehow synchronised, with the individual aspects of the music feeling tight and precise. There is an 'overproduction' argument to be made in this regard, but this seems a massive disservice to the band themselves, who has demonstrated several times before that their songwriting ability is consistently mature and well-rounded; the difference this time is simply that we can actually hear the result with stone-cold clarity, rather than a just muddied appreciation.
Infidelé(s) is very much another Celeste full-length, yet it is also different to anything they have released before. This is owing to the production rather than the writing, and some of the choices the band have made are sure to split listeners down the middle. Yet, from a purely creative perspective, this is the most nuanced the band has ever sounded. Their choice to create a cleaner sounding record actually refreshes the overall experience somewhat, and flushing out some of the dirtier textures in favour of the slightly glossier finish make the experience feel more rounded, fresher, and even, dare I say it, more complete. The album as a whole feels fully developed, lovingly crafted and a more genuine representation of who Celeste are musically than any of their previous releases. It may not be as in-step with certain genre hallmarks as their earlier efforts, but the band has made it abundantly clear that they would rather not be a classified in a typical way. To this end, the sound exhibited is actually more appropriate to this ethos and manages to transmit the established feel of the act's music with no real concessions. Infidéle(s) is smoother, more confident and battering to a fault, with an emotional maturity and thoughtful concept at its core. It’s a peacock display by an act at the top of their game, whilst simultaneously diverting down a right-hand path that yields more impressive results, and setting the scene for even more organic development in the future.
